Hinge



Oct. 6, 1970 R. 1'. CORNELIUS HINGE Filed Dec. 6, 1967 INVENTOR.

RCA/4&0 7 (be/v51. /05

M, M ATTORNEYS United States PatentOflice 3,531,823 Patented Oct. 6, 1970 3,531,823 HINGE Richard T. Cornelius, Minneapolis, Minn., assignor to The Cornelius Company, Anoka, Minn., a corporation of Minnesota Filed Dec. 6, 1967, Ser. No. 688,545 Int. Cl. Ed 11/06 US. Cl. 16-191 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A cabinet cover is connected to a cabinet body by a hinge wherein the hinge parts have integral stop portions that abut each other to limit cover opening, one stop being stifi'ly resiliently yieldable so that it can be overridden by further opening movement of the cover.

BACKGROUND Field of the invention This invention relates generally to hinges, and more specifically to a cabinet hinge having an overridable stop structure embodied therein.

Prior art Cabinets have been provided with doors which are held thereon by hinges. In certain constructions, if the hinge is deflected by an excessive amount, damage will result. Various types of hardware have been provided in the past, for instance a chain or its equivalent, between the door and the cabinet so as to limit the pivoting movement in an opening direction. Such remedies adversely affect cost and appearance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A hinge is provided which includes two parts that are pivoted together, each part having a stop, and one of the stops being stiflly resiliently yieldable in response to excessive pivoting forces, and permitting a large amount of over-travel without damage.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a hinge structure for a cabinet having a built-in stop structure which can be safely overridden.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a hinge with a stop-structure which makes a snap-type of sound on being overridden.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a cabinet hinge structure which will permit excessive opening beyond a predetermined stop position, and will give the feeling or sensation to the person opening the cabinet door that the hinge has broken, and be selfrestoring on reclosing of the cover.

Many other advantages, features and additional objects of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying drawing in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.

ON THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a hinge shown in its closed position and provided in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a side view thereof, with parts broken away and in cross-section, showing the relationship of the elements when the hinge is in the open position; and

FIG. 4 corresponds to FIG. 3 a d shows the relationship of the parts after the stop mechanism has been overridden. 1

AS SHOWN ON THE DRAWINGS The principles of the present invention are particularly useful when embodied in a hinge such as illustrated in FIG. 1, generally indicated by the numeral 19. The hinge 10 includes a part 11 and a part 12 that are pivoted together by a hinge pin 13. The part 12 is a sort of channelshaped bracket which has parallel end walls 14, 15 which extend parallel to each other, each end wall having a mounting flange 16, 17 secured as by screws 18 to the back wall of the body 19 of the cabinet generally indicated at 20. The end walls 14 and 15 are joined together by a back wall 21 which is integral therewith and which has along its upper edge a stop 22 in the form of a flange. The hinge pin 13 extends through the upper portions of the end walls 14, 15, each of which is slotted so that the pin 13 can move vertically therein. Such slotting ensures proper seating of a gasket 23 carried on the cover 24 of the cabinet 20. Such slotting has a further function described below.

The part 11 of the hinge 10 is molded from plastic, preferably of the type sold under the trademark Delrin, or any plastic having similar physical properties. Delrin is an acetal resin derived by polymerization of formaldehyde. The part 11 is preferably molded so as to snugly engage the cover 24, and is attached thereto by means of a number of screws 25. The part 11 has a bearing portion 26 at each end through which the hinge pin 13 passes, the openings for such hinge pin being vertically elongated. In ordinary pivoting, the hinge pin 13 will ride on the bottom of the elongated slots in the end walls 14, 15, while the upper ends of the slots in the bearing portions 26 will engage such hinge pin 13. The part 11 further includes a plate generally indicated at 27, the right edge of which as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is integral with the part 11 so that the plate 27 extends as a substantially flat cantilever in offset relation to the pivotal axis. The left edge of the plate 27 comprises a stop or stop surface 28 which is engageable with the stop 22 as shown in FIG. 3 to define the normal fully open position of the cover 24. Preferably, the angular spacing between the stops 22 and 28 is such that the cover 24 can pivot just over so that in pivoting slightly over center as shown in FIG. 3, the cover will be supported in a nearly vertical position in the manner that is stable. To stiffen and to improve the appearance of the part 11, a filler element 29 also joins the bearing portions 26, 26 together. The filler element 29 has an external arcuate surface with a radius that is slightly shorter than the distance from the pivotal axis to the stops 22, 28 so that it moves into the lower part 12 during pivoting as shown in FIG. 3. When the hinge 10 is in a closed position as shown in FIG. 1, the filler element closes what would otherwise be a substantial gap on the back side.

With this structure, the cover 24 can be opened and the hinge will pivot from the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 to the position shown in FIG. 3 and assume a stable position of rest with its stops 22, 28 engaged. Owing to the fact that the plate 27 is supported as a cantilever, and owing to the nature of the material of which it is made, the plate 27 comprises means for stifily resiliently yielding in response to attempted further movement of the cover 24 in an opening direction. Such yielding is to some degree controlled by the fact that the rigid edge or flange 22 and the edge 28 or stop surface are shaped in the nature of a cam so that when further force is applied in the direction of the arrow 30, the stop surface 28 is urged radially inwardly to the point that it slips off the flange 22, thereby permitting the cover to move more as shown in FIG. 4. This slippage takes place with 'a snaptype of action and an audible report, click or bang is produced, which gives the user the impression that the hinge has broken. This psychological or physiological sensation can be expected to cause the user to be more careful and when the cover is restored to its normal position, the portion 27 pops as a spring back first to the position shown in FIG. 3 from which it thereafter operates normally. The parts can be reversed and a similar result is obtained. The slots in the end portions 216 and end Walls 14 and 15 provide additional freedom at the point of pivoting, particularly during overriding of the stops 22, 28, for the cover to move in response to such forces as may be externally applied thereto.

Although various minor modifications might be suggested by those versed in the art, it should be understood that I wish to embody within the scope of the patent warranted hereon, all such embodiments as reasonably and properly come within the scope of my contribution to the art.

I claim as my invention:

11. A hinge for a cabinet comprising:

(a) a pair of parts pivoted together, and having means for attaching said parts to the cover and body of the cabinet respectively;

(b) a pair of stops on said parts movable into engagement with each other to positively limit the normal movement of the cover in an opening direction, one of said stops having means enabling said one stop to stifily resiliently yield and to be overridden in response to further opening movement.

2. A hinge according to claim 1, wherein said yield means is on said part carried by the cover.

3. A hinge according to claim 1, wherein said yield means comprises a plastic having the physical properties of the plastic known as Delrin.

4. A hinge according to claim 1, wherein said one stop having said yield means comprises a plate ofiset from the pivotal axis and engageable along one edge with the other of said stops, said-plate being supported remotely from said one edge.

5. A hinge according to claim 4, wherein said other of said stops has a rigid edge engaged by said one edge, said edges serving as cams to deflect said yield means in response to said further opening movement.

6. A hinge according to claim 1, wherein said one stop, in response to yielding of said yield means, disengages the other of said stops thereby enabling the hinge to pivot further.

7. A hinge according to claim 1, wherein said yield means comprises a substantially flat plate supported along one edge as a cantilever, an edge opposite to said one edge being the portion thereof which is engageable with the other of said stops.

8. A hinge according to claim 7, having an arcuate filler element concentric with the pivotal axis and disposed between said stops when the hinge is in a closed position, the radius of said filler element being less than the distancec from. said axis to said stops.

9. A hinge according to claim 1, including a hinge pin by which said parts are pivoted together, said parts having slots at the point of engagement with said hinge pin.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,145,689 1/1939 Hanle 16--191 1,192,161 7/1916 Bowser 16-191 2,892,209 6/1959 Condit 16140 BOBBY R. GAY, Primary Examiner D. L. TROUTMAN, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 22031 

